In the past, wireless communications were comprised primarily of voice services using analog communication technology, e.g., cellular telephones for voice communications. This technology is often referred to as first generation technology. In the past few years there has been a great deal of development and implementation of digital wireless technology that has included digital technology and other applications such as data communications, e.g., wireless web use on digital cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). This technology is often referred to as second generation technology. At the same time, use of the internet has expanded rapidly and has been developed using a communication protocol commonly referred to as internet protocol (IP). IP is comprised of packets with a header and payload. The header may include various information for signal routing and management. The payload may include, for example, voice, data, video, and/or multimedia information. Most recent developments in wireless communications have began to incorporate and integrate IP and create numerous data and voice applications and functionality not previously possible. These developments presently underway are often referred to as third generation technology. The third generation wireless communication devices and infrastructure will likely use internet protocol for at least data communications and provide multicast and broadcast applications and functionality.
In general, IP multicast is an inter-network service that allows IP datagrams sent from a source to be delivered to more than one interested receiver. An IP multicast flow is in general similar to an ordinary IP flow (IP datagrams sent from a source to a destination) except the destination address is an IP multicast address. The flow can be identified by source address, destination address, destination port (identifier for one of a plurality of applications on an IP device (e.g. a server)), etc. For example, a given source (device and/or application) sends packets to the network with a destination address, e.g., a multicast address, and the network transports these packets (replicated where necessary) to all the receivers that have requested receipt or registered for the information packets being transmitted by the source. One application of a multicast service is sending real time stock pricing from Wall Street servers in New York City across the internet to one or more wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs) in Washington, D.C.